Town Hall 4/30/04
Forum Link: Original Post Town Hall Meeting - 04/30/04 Haney Linden: Welcome to CEO of Linden Lab Haney Linden: Philip Linden Philip Linden: hi everyone! Philip Linden: Welcome to yet another heavily loaded sim ;) Philip Linden: So first, Philip Linden: I'd like to give a big hello to our many repeater listeners. Philip Linden: For the first time today we are extending this event Philip Linden: so we can get more people involved. Philip Linden: by repeaters Philip Linden: So there are several off-site listening parties... Philip Linden: Bhodi at the VERTU headquarters, Philip Linden: Salazar Jack at the Rez Stop Philip Linden: Tiger Crossing Miramare 110,110 Philip Linden: Brian Livingston SLBN News Philip Linden: Shadow Weaver in Lusk Philip Linden: for creating and installing repeating devices Philip Linden: thanks to Pete Fats and Huns Valen Philip Linden: and to Ezhar Fairlight for the email version Philip Linden: for those who can't be in-world. Philip Linden: So Haney will take questions... Philip Linden: but first let me hit some topics that have been asked Philip Linden: in advance of the meeting. Philip Linden: and also make some general announcements Philip Linden: First lets talk about my hot tub here. Philip Linden: This hot tub was built by Siggy Romulus, Philip Linden: and was our third place contest winner with $100 Philip Linden: A very cool calico cat that chases a ball, Philip Linden: was our second place winner for $150 Philip Linden: created by BTA Jack Philip Linden: And the first place winner is Philip Linden: Adam Zaius, with the TV behind me Philip Linden: With a $250 prize Philip Linden: And of course those are US$ Haney Linden: ADam, come take a bow Adam Zaius: Thankyou. :) Philip Linden: Yay Adam! Philip Linden: So this was the first content contest, Philip Linden: but we will do these monthly or so. Philip Linden: The subject for this one was fun toys for newbies, Philip Linden: and we will pick a different one for each content going forward. Philip Linden: So hopefully these contests will create some great stuff. Philip Linden: OK... Philip Linden: so some topics to discuss... Philip Linden: First, let me talk about alt accounts, ratings, and griefing. Philip Linden: Not all our policy is written down on this stuff, Philip Linden: so let me say how it works: Philip Linden: New users are now limited to 5 accounts per person or credit card. Philip Linden: So that is the limit on alt accounts. Philip Linden: Existing folks who have more can keep them. Philip Linden: Adittionally, Philip Linden: you can have only one trial account in a 90 day period Philip Linden: so you cannot create trial accounts just to grief, etc Philip Linden: Finally, discipline and suspensions can and do extend to all owned accounts Philip Linden: so you cannot create trial accounts just to grief, etc Philip Linden: We will keep looking at these limits and designs and update as we get feedback Philip Linden: and see how things work. Philip Linden: But the overall ability to abuse the system is this way, Philip Linden: I think is appropriately limited. Philip Linden: On the subject of the rating system... Philip Linden: as has been discussed in the forums, Philip Linden: rating design is tough... not every type of abuse can be prevented Philip Linden: But we are listening and thinking about how to improve it. Philip Linden: So I don't have specific planned designs, Philip Linden: but we are certainly listening and agree that it needs to work well. Philip Linden: On the subject of XML/RPC... Philip Linden: we have in working and in test now. Philip Linden: and possibly sooner. Philip Linden: Conservatively it will be in 1.4, Philip Linden: As to neato 1.4 stuff.... Philip Linden: today I saw a new animation previewed, uploaded and streamed. Philip Linden: Very very cool stuff. Philip Linden: 1.4 is coming soon... Philip Linden: we haven't set on exact date, Philip Linden: but let me say that we are totally on schedule. Philip Linden: And very conservatively it will definitely be out before SL's 1 year anniversary, Philip Linden: which is on June 23. Philip Linden: Also, proxy bidding (where you can set your max bid amount) on land Philip Linden: will be released this coming monday. Philip Linden: I know there has been lots of interest in that feature. Philip Linden: So let's go to questions.... Philip Linden: We have a ton. Haney Linden: James Miller: When can we expect the latest landmass to connect to the mainland, and how large is it? Philip Linden: All I will say is that there will be more sims up next wee k. Haney Linden: Catherine Cotton: what can you tell us about the trip to SF this summer? Philip Linden: We've been having fun playing terraforming gods. Philip Linden: Well we are considering whether to have a real-life conference Philip Linden: We'd love to get folks togther for an intensive session Philip Linden: on where SL is going, how to build best, etc. Philip Linden: Certainly SL is quite powerful for meetings. Haney Linden: Panther Farber: why isnt there a slider for rib cage size? on small avs the ribcage is too big. Philip Linden: but the occasional RL event is nice too ;) Philip Linden: OK We'll put ribcage slider in the queue. Haney Linden: Malana Spencer: I was wondering if LL will ever consider a differnt color, style or BOTH for use of Host(ess)'s whenthey are running an event. This would make it easier to get the attention of the crowd as they will be able to see the host's text more e Philip Linden: That is an interesting idea.... I'll note it. Haney Linden: katykiwi Moonflower: what is being done to make customer service more reponsive since it seems most emails just get the canned reply and issues remain unresolved Philip Linden: Well we are trying to keep a constant customer service to resident ratio.... Philip Linden: about 20% monthly... Philip Linden: right now we are happily growing quite fast... Philip Linden: so we will be hiring more folks soon. Philip Linden: We've already added to our team to follow bugs, for example. Philip Linden: right now we are happily growing quite fast... Haney Linden: Astrin Few: Q: Any chance of adding MIDI support? MIDI files are very small, not much server load. Philip Linden: But agree, we need to keep growing. Philip Linden: MIDI support is a cool idea... we have it on the list. Haney Linden: Ming Chen: will the vehicle prim limit be raised? Philip Linden: Vehicle prim limit will go up when we change the way we phyiscally model vehicles. Philip Linden: right now we model every primitive precisely. Philip Linden: We will improve that design and this will allow more. Philip Linden: I can't promise that in 1.4. Haney Linden: FlipperPA Peregrine: A question: Why can't people change avatar names? Not every day, but I have proposed a system to limit it - charge $10 USD or L$1000 per letter you want to change each time you change your avatar name. Haney Linden: FlipperPA Peregrine: I want to switch from FlipperPA to Flipper :-) Philip Linden: We are thinking about systems to change avatar names, Philip Linden: and we agree that if it is infrequent it should probably be allowed. Philip Linden: Changing names doesn't allow you to run away from your objects/deeds for example, Philip Linden: so it seems OK. We're thinking about it. Haney Linden: Cori Sunshine: for Phil: Will groups ever earn Dwell Philip Linden: The groups dwell is split between all group members. Philip Linden: So yes they do earn dwell. Philip Linden: No, we will not double count (give you groups and people), Philip Linden: since this would make it too compelling to make everyplace part of a group. Haney Linden: MiMi Beckenbauer: o(*.*)o Hi Haney..will there be any previews of the animation..on the website maybe? Thanks Philip Linden: Well the most important preview will be the preview build... Philip Linden: as always we will try to get that up before release. Haney Linden: Siobhan Taylor: Is there a release for Havok 2 yet? Siobhan Taylor: What if any, are the plans for a ragdoll avatar physics model? Philip Linden: We are working on it and have most of Havok 2 (new physics) working Philip Linden: But most NEW features (like avatar bodies, etc) Philip Linden: will not be in time for 1.4 Philip Linden: But yes, hurrah, we have in fact got it in. Haney Linden: Fade Zander: Will the problem with ATI video cards - hardware acceleration be one of the fixes included in 1.4? :) Philip Linden: There are some fixes in the latest ATI Drivers, Philip Linden: but I am not sure. Philip Linden: There is an expected driver release from ATI, s Philip Linden: should be very soon. Philip Linden: Reflection maps will minimally be fixed in this one. Haney Linden: Neil Protagonist: Can we expect any changes to the particle system in 1.4? Philip Linden: No planned changes to particles in 1.4. Haney Linden: Catherine Omega: There have been some misconceptions about this -- for the record, can you confirm that when you guys say "streaming gestures" and "custom animations", you're talking about the same thing, Philip Linden: Yes we are talking about the same thing. Haney Linden: AND that they affect the entire body, not just the hands? Philip Linden: Gestures are animations+chat+sounds Philip Linden: Animations affect the whole body. Philip Linden: And all will be streamed in 1.4 and uploadable., Haney Linden: Kex Godel: Q: Are there plans to handle the troublemakers who specifically plan their activities during hours when Lindens are not online? Philip Linden: Well no, but our enforcement for serious griefing is pretty sever, Philip Linden: severe... Philip Linden: But yes we will try to be on more. Haney Linden: Fallingwater Cellardoor: question for philip: will proxy bidding end the 5 minute extensions? Philip Linden: Extensions are now 2 minutes, and we will keep them. Philip Linden: But with proxy bidding they will probably be less used. Haney Linden: Catherine Cotton: Will we be seeing a rounded box in the prim selection before or in 1.4? Philip Linden: no, no rounded box or new prims yet. Philip Linden: Agree some new ones would be cool. Haney Linden: Grim Lupis: My question is re: testing RPC. I've been waiting for something like this for a looooooong time (pre 1.1) is there any way us mere mortals can participate in testing? Philip Linden: Ummm.... cetainly the 1.4 preview will allow testing of it. Philip Linden: I'll think about other ways. Haney Linden: Michi Lumin: Haney, I know it's old, but I just want to ask about the female sit. Will it ever be optioned? :\ Philip Linden: Ultimately all the anims will be changeable, so yes. Philip Linden: I think our tired little set of anims will be history pretty quickly Philip Linden: given the creativity of this group. Haney Linden: Jai Nomad: Q. Is it not about time, with all the many non-US/Brit residents.. for some 24 hr Linden cover? Philip Linden: Point well taken. Additionally we need better enforcement... Philip Linden: One thought/question on this topic for further forum discussion... Philip Linden: One thing we can do is group officers Philip Linden: can have the ability to freeze and kick, Philip Linden: on land that is privately owned, Philip Linden: but associated with the group. Philip Linden: This is something that might better allow Philip Linden: groups of landowners to have 'police', if you will. Philip Linden: And so I'd like to hear forum comments on that. Philip Linden: Alternatively, there is the idea of at a global level, Philip Linden: allowing non-employees to have freeze/kick powers. Philip Linden: I'd like to see discussion on that. Philip Linden: Clearly a complex topic. Philip Linden: We could do one or both or neither. Haney Linden: Oz Spade: Q: How is the website update coming along? I've seen the new registration page and it looks great, will the colors used there be on the whole site? :) Philip Linden: Hm... well not top priority to carry those colors everywhere, Philip Linden: but thanks for the kudos. Philip Linden: I hope all like the improvem,ents.... we have tried to focus on user sites and stuff Philip Linden: I think this helps a lot, Philip Linden: along with generally fresher screenshots. Philip Linden: We've seen postive performance changes in the site. Philip Linden: And obviously lots more residents! Haney Linden: Cinda Valentino: Why is there time added at the end of TIMED auction, and why had it been left so easy for landbarons to exsist, and make it so hard to get land you want? Philip Linden: Well the proxy bidding will help with that. Philip Linden: The general problem of land speculation is a characteristic of any growing system like ours... Philip Linden: and I think we have to begin with a tolerant approach. Philip Linden: The land for landless systems can hopefully guarantee some land for all, Philip Linden: without making speculation impossible. Haney Linden: Francis Chung: Question: What is the population & money supply of SL? Will LL be publishing statistical information on residents in the future? Philip Linden: We will publish some consumer price and related sort of stats as soon as we can. Philip Linden: We will not break down stuff by individuals, though, of course. Philip Linden: Goal is to provide similar level of visibility to US economy,. Philip Linden: and hold exchange rates and land prices constant. Philip Linden: We've been doing a pretty good job of that... Philip Linden: look at GamingOpenMarket, for example... Philip Linden: price has been quite stable. Philip Linden: We'll publish stats to make that easier to see... I'd like to see running graphs. Haney Linden: Archanox Underthorn: I was wondering, is there anything being done about the load times on sound files, the current load time is pretty long Philip Linden: Yes, we are working on that. Probably some improvements for 1.4. Haney Linden: Include Onizuka: will we be able to upload movies like .avi so we can build theaters? Include Onizuka: or was that what you ment by midi Philip Linden: Video is a separate issue. Philip Linden: We are thinking about it, Philip Linden: agree it would be fun. Philip Linden: But also we need all the CPU we can get. Philip Linden: It isn't on the schedule yet. Haney Linden: Jade Lily: Would any extra consideration be given to former players of SecondLife who have the gaming experience and want to become employees of Linden Lab? Philip Linden: We always look to resumes from SL users first when hiring. Philip Linden: We've hired a number of SL residents already. Philip Linden: So yes we do. Haney Linden: Athinia Cassidy: is there going to be a way to link you lands together if they are far apart? Philip Linden: I don't understand the question... IM me or something on that one. Haney Linden: Invect Psaltery: Do you guys have any plans to completely redesign the user interface of second life? I think it could be improved immensely, and it's the biggest "wall" between the user and the environment... Philip Linden: I don't understand the question... IM me or something on that one. Philip Linden: We have put a lot of time into the UI... it you have specific design ideas we'd love to hear them! Philip Linden: Either by forum or directly my mail, etc. Philip Linden: I am philip@secondlife.com Haney Linden: Gina Dawn: Please addres the issue of "compensation for expensive objects" due to game crashes or going "off world" I did send a message to this effect, two days ago. Gina Dawn: The loss of expensive objects... Philip Linden: In general we will always work to preserve content Philip Linden: and allow events and such to happen. Philip Linden: It is out top priority. Philip Linden: With hundreds of gigs of content. Philip Linden: and millions of changes/day, Philip Linden: we have almost never lost content,. Philip Linden: So we are very serious. Philip Linden: It is out top priority. Philip Linden: But we cannot guarantee it. Haney Linden: Davidimus Mifflin: can the radius that is currently set to ban people from your land that have diliberately abused the right to be there be raised because after a recent banning of one such individual he was able to hover withing SAY distance Philip Linden: SL is too complex to prevent every possible loss. Haney Linden: and continue to drop things Davidimus Mifflin: on the owner Philip Linden: We'll think about that... good point. Haney Linden: eltee Statosky: if its not too late.. can i ask if there are plans to look at bringing group owned land on par with player owned land, as far as the tools and incentives and such? Haney Linden: eltee Statosky: (such as letting group members/officers build on group land set nobuild) Philip Linden: On par? I don't understand. Philip Linden: IM me. Philip Linden: later. Haney Linden: Charlton Pendragon: question..any plans to allow us more than 10 groups? Philip Linden: OK, something to think about. Philip Linden: noted. Haney Linden: James Miller: Just like we have the "My Land" window, can we get a "My Objects" window? It'd be so nice to be able to find all the objects we own, so we can retrieve them if we lose them. (Like, with vehicles.) Philip Linden: OK, something to think about. Philip Linden: Yes we should do that. Philip Linden: It is very hard, though, Philip Linden: so lower priority. Philip Linden: Seems like Havok 2, etc, more important. Philip Linden: But agree that ultimately we need it. Philip Linden: Just very hard. Haney Linden: Baccara Rhodes: For dwell, how about those of us who host on other peoples lands? We never get any types of creid Philip Linden: Bacarra... good issue. Philip Linden: I guess one answer is they pay you the dwell as part of the deal. Philip Linden: Maybe we need 'renting', Philip Linden: Bacarra... good issue. Philip Linden: but we are concerned about the complexity of implementing the rules/contracts well. Haney Linden: Ray Dillon: Can we expect to raise the limit of 30 in the group listings soon? Philip Linden: OK we'll do a couple more, Philip Linden: and then I'll just chat a bit, Philip Linden: and try to answer the others in the forum, etc. Philip Linden: yes. Philip Linden: OK we are working on the group listing limit, tes. Haney Linden: Pedro Pendragon: Any chance of alternate group forms? Democracy is nice, but it isn't ideal for every situation. Philip Linden: suggestions as to other forms welcome! Philip Linden: We chose this one to start. Philip Linden: Give them in the forums. Philip Linden: Agree that others might be desirable. Haney Linden: Kurokami Khan: To Philip: Will the Havok 2 engine slow down FPS's since the best thing about Second Life is the massive amount of people you can have onscreen at once? Philip Linden: I've always wanted to be Philip the Despot ;) Philip Linden: We chose this one to start. Philip Linden: Agree that others might be desirable. Philip Linden: No the physics engine is on the server... so no effect on FPS. Philip Linden: One more question... Haney Linden: Tiger Crossing: Q: What will be required to make custom animations when that feature comes out? Poser? Philip Linden: format. Philip Linden: Probably poser, but we will use a standard file formar. Philip Linden: Poser is a good choice and what we use here. Philip Linden: OK, we're going to wrap... Philip Linden: we've got a happy hour near the office to attend to ;) Green Fate: where? Philip Linden: Thanks everyone for the questions... Kex Godel: Philip: are we going to have another Town Hall with Cory too soon? Philip Linden: Hotel Utah... SF. Philip Linden: I will forward the Cory request... Kex Godel: thanks =D Philip Linden: It's nice to see everyone. Philip Linden: I've been SO busy lately as mr CEO... Philip Linden: haven't had much time to play. Philip Linden: Thanks as always for bearing the growing pains. Category:Town Hall Logs